Beacon Pines
Review

Beacon Pines (2022) is a storybook adventure game where you play as a small fawn named Luka trying to solve a mystery in a creepy town full of intrigue. You play by collecting words that change the story, so you can go back through the book to play out different paths to discover all of the secrets.

In Beacon Pines, you guide Luka around as he sneaks around with his friends, investigating the weird happenings in their town and trying not to get caught. Play consists of interacting with people and places around town and making important choices about how Luka will approach the problems he faces at certain points in the story. Exploring the town, talking to people, and looking at things will reveal Charms like “Hide”, “Chill”, and “Ponder”, action words that you use during important moments called Turning Points.

One unusual thing about Beacon Pines is that you can go back and forth between Turning Points any time to try out a different path. Experimenting with different Charms and moving between the story paths is built into the gameplay rather than something you would need to replay the game or reload a save file to do. Revisiting past Turning Points once you have discovered new Charms may reveal entirely new branches of the story, and the ability to return to any previous choices grants the freedom to explore.

The result is a surprisingly fresh way to experience a story. The playful nature of changing different key moments not only adds weight to the narrative you let play out, but encourage you to consider "what if?" Beacon Pines looks like another wholesome story game, but actually offers a more substantial and innovative narrative experience than its visuals suggest.

Our examiner, Angela Hickman Newnham, first checked Beacon Pines 14 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 10 months ago.